An Empty Castle
by PsOhKiEpMpOeNr9
Summary: Every kid has a darker side. Most hold this within themselves as an alter ego. Ash however, has an unknown twin who is the darker side. When this kid comes and takes his girl, only he and a Champion can save her from an empty eternity in a lone castle.
1. Chapter 1

The Call for the End

There once was a little boy, an unimportant boy, for he just opens this story. The boy's name is Jimmy, and he is terminally ill. The doctors said he had 3 months to live, and it had been 3 months and a week. His parents were incredibly proud, saying he had beaten all of the odds.

During the night, perhaps a little bit after 2 in the morning, this little boy suffered a mighty downfall in health. He tried to call for help, put only squeaks came out. He pressed the button for a nurse, but none came. Suddenly, everything slowed down to a halt.

His heart monitor slowed as did the sounds of crickets outside. The movement of the curtains from the wind also slowed down until everything became a freeze frame. The only sound was his breath, which was rushing like an overflown river.

He jerked his head around, taking in the oddity with a strong fear. He peered around the room, when his arm, that had nearly stopped motion from the illness, moved freely without catching or tears.

He unplugged the IV and pulled out all the cables. He got up and stood quite easily he walked about like he was never sick. He pranced around joyously, until a sudden and loud knock slammed on the door. Little Jimmy jumped out of his skin. "Hello?" he managed to whimper out.

The door burst off its hinges to show a darkly cloaked figure walking into the room. He wore a dark trench with a hood that shrouded his face. His hands were covered with black, fingerless gloves. His right hand clenched a dark staff with a black crystalline scythe head. He had black pants that extended down to his black boots. His boots clacked loudly on the tiles in the silence. The figure walked across the room until he was a few feet from the scared child. They were of about equal height. The figure tore back his hood to expose his tanned face and raven hair.

His voice thundered out, "I am Death the Kid, Reaper of Children. It is time for you, Jimmy, to come with me." A dark aura seemed to seep off his clothes and slither off his scythe. Before the child could react, the black scythe sliced up the child's sternum. At first, some blood came from the wound, and then Jimmy's soul was removed from the body and both Jimmy and the Child Reaper drifted off. They headed over the city and through to clouds till they reached purgatory. The child was dropped off and the Reaper traveled off for another dying child.

**OOOOO**

Another young boy, this one much more important, was walking down the road towards Slate Port city with his friends. Their names were Max, a short, intelligent smartass, Broc, a tall breeder, and May, a young Pokémon Contest contestant. The unnamed boy was Ash, a master of the art of Pokémon training, most of the time.

The group was approaching town when they heard someone screaming out for help. They ran off the path into the trees to find this unknown voice. A boy was clutching his left leg. He had a green bandana tied around a wound. His white frosted hair was leaning down the side of his head to right. His Pokémon were scattered about in trees, bushes and on the ground. They were all unconscious. "Thank you. I've been trapped out here for hours. I've heard people before and they all walked by."

"Glad to be of service," Ash said as he and May went to pick him off the ground. Ash lifted his legs, followed by wincing from the boy. May pulled his shoulders up and began to walk back to the path. The other two took his Pokeballs and returned his Pokémon. They escorted him into town and to a local hospital.

When the doors slid open, a couple walked out of the hospital and nearly bumped into Ash. "Oh, I'm sorry," The girl said.

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked. The seemed to instantly break down into tears. They stayed like that for a few minutes before regaining control.

"Sorry, but our child died last night. The nurses were out cold, so no one could come to his help when the IV slipped out, he stumbled about before his lungs ruptured. The truly odd part was that very little blood came out and there was no excess pool of blood as would be expected anywhere." The couple walked out solemnly.

The group walked in as a nurse pulled around a wheelchair. "Lucky you Brendan, a room has opened up," the nurse said. "So what did you do this time?" Brendan breathed lightly. "Don't want to talk about it right now eh?"

She wheeled him away with the group following. He got into his room and saw a small stain on the floor. "Uh, what's that?" he asked.

"A little boy died in here last night. Sorry, but the hospital in currently getting on the crowded side." She put him on the bed and left.

A while later, the doctor came in and took him away for diagnostics. He came with ghostly eyes and partially sick. "So, what's wrong with him?"

"He was assaulted by a Seviper," explained the doctor. "It tore its fangs into his leg, causing said wound. While he was initially thriving in pain, his Pokémon were knocked out by the Seviper, which then escaped. He began calling out for help for several hours before you arrived, giving the venom plenty of time to embed into his body. He will be lucky to survive the night." The last sentence seemed to echo in the silence.

The doctor left the room and Brendan was wheezing in his bed. They sat in the room with the stranger because Ash had this undying compassion for those in need, a trait of a hero. They sat with him all day and all night, deep into night. Ash had been basically thinking to himself. He couldn't help but feel bad for the poor boy.

Another topic on his mind was a girlfriend. He had a hole in his heart that hadn't been filled for a long time. He narrowed down the possibilities to being a lack of love. He wanted a girlfriend and May was a beautiful flower. May had this air about her. She was a beautiful rose on the outside and a happy go lucky daisy on the inside. She was a dream come to life for him.

**OOOOO**

Brendan was lying in bed, at death's door, waiting for his knocking. He knew it was the end because his insides felt like they had dried up like a grape left in the sun. He was beginning to notice that Broc's snoring was getting slower while the drool coming from Max's mouth slowed. May's breathing slowed and Ash's darting eyes slowed to a halt.

The door opened slowly to show that shadowy figure once again. He didn't where the hood and showed his face. It was twisted in anger. "Same room, two days in a row." He said lowly.

"Ha, that's a good one Ash." Brendan said calmly.

"You think this is some kind of joke?" he yelled as he stabbed the scythe into a wall. A circle about 4 feet in diameter turned black and rotted away. "I don't know who this Ash is, but you are going to die now. I am Death the kid, Reaper of Children."

"Oh no, wait, if you're not Ash, then who's that?" Brendan said, pointing perfectly at Ash. He saw this miraculous movement and instantly jumped up, seeing his perfectly normal physique. The Reaper looked at him and his eyes grew like dinner plates. He pointed his scythe at Ash and prepared to fire a laser until he saw May. Her beauty, she was definitely a trophy girl fit for Death's son. He fired the laser at the two, bringing them into this Land Without Time. They at first jumped up, then screamed. May looked at death's son, then Ash.

"Well look at this, little mortal twin Ash. Never thought I'd get to meet you until we were much older."

"What do you mean twin?" Ash asked. "I'm an only child."

"That's what you think. You see, our mother was once on death's door. However, seeing her beauty and resilience, Death gave her a second chance in trade for children. So Death and our mother conceived us. She returned to earth pregnant, but alive. Twins were birthed, one was mortal, the other a god. Because I was immortal, I returned to my father's side in the Underworld, taking up the children part of reaping."

"That means, my father is-, "Ash started.

"Death, yes." The Reaper interrupted. "Daddy dearest is Death, and I've come for your friend, and I'm also going to take that girl of yours."

"Nooooo! You can't take her from me now!" Ash yelled out.

"What are you going to do? Kill her to keep her away? I…am…Death bitch!" a bright flash erupted and only Brendan's corpse remained. Ash shook Max and Broc to wake them.

"What's wrong? Where's May?" Max asked.

"Death's son has killed Brendan and kidnapped May!" Ash said with urgency. Max and Broc dismissed this and went back to sleep. "I guess it's time to take this into my own hands." Ash said to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ash decided to speak with the wisest man he knew. He approached the videophone and punched in Professor Oak's number. The video feed quickly whirred up and Oak's face flashed onto the screen. "Oh hello there Ash, I wasn't expecting a call from you anytime soon."

Ash frantically blurted out the entire story. Oak didn't seem to not believe the story, but he definitely wasn't convinced yet. "Well I think I know someone that could help you out in this endeavor. She is from the region of Sinnoh."

_Sinnoh, _he thought to himself. _Where the hell is that? _The Professor finished his statement with, "She's the Pokémon Champion there. She's also a ghost and dark-type specialist. Her name is Cynthia and she's your best chance at survival."

A third video feed was brought up and Cynthia smiled and waved at the Professor. "How are you today?" She started as the Professor and Cynthia started to hold a conversation. Eventually, Ash's anger got the best of him.

"Weren't we talking about something Professor?" He blurted out in a short pause in the conversation.

"Oh yeah. " The professor said. He then explained the problem to Cynthia who was also skeptical, but was more likely to have an idea.

"Well, according to folklore, in the Eterna Forest, there is an old mansion supposedly haunted. It's called the Old Chateau. He might be hiding out there. He can't take her physical form into the underworld without permission from several figureheads there. Also, out in the middle of the forest there is a clearing only visible at night. Rumor has it, that is was built by Pokémon hundreds of years ago."

"It's a castle of sorts, about 1300-1400's era. It is designed as a grand castle, but not like anything in this land. Instead of layer roofs and stories of ninjas or samurai, this is of a separate style altogether. Catch a flight or boat over to Sinnoh and we can search the region."

"Ha," Oak said. "I can do you one better. Ash, I'll send your Pidgeot and you can fly to meet her in forest." Everyone agreed, the Pokéball was sent over, and we headed for the Old Chateau, a rendezvous of sorts. He threw out the ball once he got outside. Max and Brock were standing outside ready to travel away. As the bird formed up, Max gaped in astonishment at its size, as Brock stood still, purely impressed at the bird's upkeep.

"What are going to do with that?" Max and Brock asked in unison.

"I'm going to get May." He said.

"I'm sure she's just out doing some alone training. She took her Pokéballs with her." Which was actually a lie. Ash had them in his pocket. But before anyone could further object, Ash took flight, heading for a place that he has never seen and has never seen him.

While flying over the seas, he saw ships traveling between oceans and planes soaring through to sky. Even saw a few helicopters performing research. For Pokémon, he saw a lot of water Pokémon. Most he recognized, while there was a few that were new to him. One looked like Magcargo, but it was water Pokémon and lacked a shell. Another Pokémon was orange with yellow flotation device swimming around with other unknown Pokémon on its belly.

A purple balloon-like creature drifted through the air with a purple blimp-like creature. A brown and white speckled Pokémon was flying around, making shrill cries that even annoyed the Pidgeot. As they got closer to ground level, even more unknown Pokémon appeared before him. Most he decided to ignore. The forests appeared fairly similar to that of other regions. The cityscapes in the distance looked quite different though. Several cities appeared futuristic.

He was soon watching a map for Eterna Forest. All of the forests looked to same except Eterna Forest. That region was a much darker green, and much more lush grasses. Within another hour, he was over the forest when he saw the Old Chateau. This new feeling of remorse started to fill his soul as he spotted Cynthia and her all-terrain vehicle.

_If only I had done something. I could've resisted and now we wouldn't be in this mess._ Pidgeot let out a loud cry as it lit in the fields in front of the building. "I'm here, let's get to work," he said as he approached the house. She followed closely behind.

Ash peered up at the building. It was mostly brown and covered in vines. Some windows were busted out and others were boarded over. He grabbed the rusted handle to the building and jerked hard on it. The only thing that budged was the handle itself, which is now in his hands. "Crap." He said plainly as she took a crowbar from the back of her vehicle. "Here use this," she said as she handed it to him. She had an entire duffel bag with gear slung over her shoulder. "I was pretty sure you wouldn't be prepared for this." She continued as the sound of the deadbolt breaking out bounced off the trees.

He gave it one last tug before the door swung wide, nearly slamming into the porch. They stepped in to hear the loud creaking of steps. They stayed together lest they be separated with dirty tricks. They walked into the dining room to see a waiter with a platter in his hands. He turned to his right and stepped off into the kitchen. Ash ran after him, looking for answers, but when he stepped into the room, the figure was nowhere to be seen. He walked back to the main foyer with Cynthia.

"This could take all day!" He said as his voice echoed through the empty halls. They decided to split up and check the two upstairs hallways. As Ash began down the hallway, he noticed that the walls were brown with some wallpaper peeling away. The carpet was a weathered brown with blue, red, and yellow stripes. He felt like he was being watched by something.

He entered the first room and saw the window was boarded up. There was a TV with only static and a nearly demolished bed. He walked up to the TV and examined it. The static almost seemed to warp away from center, like something was in it, watching. He slowly backed out and checked another room. This one was basically the same, but with no TV.

Suddenly, he thought he heard footsteps and child's laughter, followed by the shutting of a door. He ran back into the hallway, but saw nothing. He then went into the room the noises came from, but there was nothing. A purple picture of a tree was hanging on the wall. He turned around to exit the room when he began to feel this sudden need turn back.

He quickly faced the picture to see a _pair of red eyes _fading out of it. He sprinted out of the room and into the last one. He didn't close the door behind him, but a loud _slam! _echo through the room. He turned around to see a little girl, who had clearly closed the door. The brim of a sunhat hid her eyes. She smiled at him innocently at first, then her mouth spread out and twisted into disturbing proportions. Her teeth grew razor sharp, but she still held a smile.

Ash seemed to cringe in fear as she tipped her hat up, revealing dark red eyes and _brunette _hair. She opened her maw to reveal a long, twisting tongue as she grabbed his hand. She pulled him close before whispering into his ear, "_You are not alone,"_ In a deep, demonic tone. Everything grew hazy as he backed away from her. He stumbled and fell against the wall as she walked closer to him. The tongue shot out of her mouth as everything went dark at once.

**OOOOO**

He was standing around in the main foyer of the mansion. That demon that took her away from Ash was just waltzing around the lobby. He stopped and stood tall, glaring directly at a door. On the other side of the door was Ash. Ash grabbed yanked the door open. "Come fight me!" He screamed down to the Reaper.

"Fine, but when I hold your head in my hands, you'll be sorry." The Reaper said. He dropped his scythe onto the ground and burned past the stairs. He slammed his fist into Ash's gut, who doubled-over, ready to drop. Ash jumped back up though and kicked the Reaper in the bottom of the jaw.

They quickly began mirroring each other's moves, as they were basically the same person. Their fists met together constantly as the Reaper slowly moved Ash closer to the balcony. Ash thought, _clichéd gulp _as he swallowed hard. Then with a quick uppercut, Ash slammed through the railing down towards the scythe that was pointed _up _on towards his stomach.

He screamed loudly as he approached that which would impale him. A dark low laughter could be heard erupting from balcony as Ash plummeted to his death.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As Ash came inches from having a new hole in his body, his eyes flashed open. He was leaning up against the wall in the room. He looked around and saw that even that creepy ghost girl was gone. He went out of the way and decided to check his clothes and skin for ghost saliva. As he was rubbing his arms, he heard movement outside the door and saw the handle wiggling around. "Aaah!" he screamed as the door swung open.

Cynthia stepped inside, holding her ears. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She managed to scream over Ash. He stopped screaming, opened his eyes, and looked up.

"Oh, it's just you." He said as he stood up. "I must have had a terrible dream or something." The only light in the room was a flashlight she had in her hands. Ash stood up and looked around the room. It was a lot darker than he remembered it being. He looked out the window. "Holy crap, it's like 10 at night. I can't see anything."

She looked at him for a few seconds before saying, "Whoa, look again." When Ash turned around, his jaw practically dropped to the floor in disbelief. This all present, omniscient glow could be seen from coming from somewhere out of his view. A path between the trees was illuminated leading towards the source of light.

Without speaking, they stampeded out of the room, down the and into the main lobby to be stopped by something terrifying. A large spike coming out of the ground impaled Ash's carcass. The body was covered in black mold like substance and it was face up. It was impaled through the chest, and ribs were seen jutting out of the remains. Even from the balcony, his exposed lungs and heart could be seen. "How is that possible?" Ash said as he looked at this exact copy of himself. It was dead just the way he had dreamed.

A plain sticky note was stuck to the tip of the bloody spike. As Cynthia slowly walked down the stairs, Ash skipped steps all the way down and stopped in front the spike. He stared at his own, cold face. As soon as his hand touched the sticky note, the rest of the image turned black and fell in on itself, like a pile of perfectly stacked marbles after you take one away. As it collapsed into a puddle of black, it then quickly drew back into a single spot before fading away completely.

He read the sticky note, which said:

_Let me tell a story. A story a fool named Ash Ketchum. He thought he always had to the power to win no matter the circumstances. One day he came across me. He thought he could just waltz in and conquer the world. But, I let him simply fooled him. He climbed all the way to the top before I pushed him into the pit at the bottom. Now he lays, covered in his own pity and misery, with a hint of blood._

_Sincerely,_

_ Your Nightmare_

Directly as he finished reading the note, it also dissipated into nothingness. Cynthia had just caught up with him, incapable of reading the note as it had already disappeared. Ash walked out the door into the cold night. She followed closely, trying to keep up with the boy as he rushed through the grass, which made a loud rustling noise. He sprinted past the fence, over to her vehicle, got into the passenger's seat, and motioned her to start driving. She sat down next to him and started the engine. She then asked, "So what did the note say?"

"Nothing important," he said as they rumbled down the newly exposed path. Unlike most of the forest, this area was void of all Pokémon, sleeping or nocturnal. It was full of loose dirt that signified the trail was lightly traveled. Several roots were growing out into the path, creating a twisty, bumpy ride. The ride was quiet and desperate one. As they got closer, the trees thinned out quite quickly. The trail was a single long bend of road. The light began to come into perspective as they came to the end of the trail.

A brightly lit castle quickly formed up out of a blob of light. Bricks were heard clicking together as the structure formed up its walls. Watchtowers quickly formed up to look more like lighthouses. The large gate into the castle shone like a sheet of pure gold in the sunlight. The only dark part a bottomless pit with a haunt of dark, crooked nose Pokémon flying in it for a moat. Cynthia stopped at the edge of the moat. She peered at the Pokémon before turning to Ash and saying, "Those are Murkrow. Getting involved with them is said to bring bad luck to anyone involved."

Ash looked around at the castle and pit. He looked around at the large clearing that encompassed the castle grounds. Not a single soul could be seen near the castle except them and the Pokémon in the pit. "He screamed out, "Where are you? Show yourself you coward."

"You don't really think he would respond to that, do you?" Cynthia asked him.

"I'm pretty sure I know myself better than you would." Ash answered smartly.

Suddenly, a group of like 10 scattered up and flew towards the top of a watchtower. As they collected at the top, a figure seemed to appear between them. As they then scattered for the moon as the Reaper stood on the tip, laughing loudly. It seemed to echo throughout the entire complex. "Yes I would respond to such ignorant insults. So, did you like my note?" he asked loudly. After about 5 seconds with silence, he continued, "I worked all day on that. Eh, what does it matter to you anyway? You'll end up just like the image in a matter of minutes of entering the castle."

"What's your game?" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs. Cynthia only stood astonished by the physical comparison of the Reaper and Ash. Just as she had heard, they were twins. He stood proudly, with his scythe turned upside down behind him.

"I'm just here to warn you." He chuckled menacingly. "There are many traps within this castle. The closer you get, the more traps there are, the slower killing they are, and the physiologically painful they are. Enter at your own risk," he finished. Before Ash could even say anything or Cynthia gather her thoughts, the demon leapt into the air, pulled a back flip, and disappeared behind the walls. They large gate fell with the loud crash of wood on metal.

They both looked back simultaneously to see the front of the jeep under the heavy gate. A dark portal emanated out of the gate. They each hefted a duffel bag out of the mangled rear and stepped onto the gate. A loud creaking could be heard as they began to tread across the gate. It felt like each brick had an eye, and was watching them as they approached the gate. A faint Murkrow call could be heard underneath them, as if beckoning them to join them in the hole.

They stepped off the gate and onto cold brick as they peered up at the archway. A loud creaking followed by the grinding of chains moving erupted in the forest. They turned around to see the gate closing, followed a loud thundering as gate slid into place. The only things not lit up in the castle so far were the ground bricks, and the portal. They stepped willingly into the darkness, as it seemed to caress them lightly. When they stepped into darkness, it was filled almost instantly with light.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ash had to blink several times while his eyes adjust to the immense glow. It was like staring at the setting sun, but it was everywhere. When he could finally see, he realized the earlier statement about the bricks having eyes wasn't so exagerated after all.

Each individual brick was transparent, like a window. Each one had a light purple bulb inside that glowed and swished about within the brick. He looked at the floor and saw that the ground bricks and any furniture wasn't lit up, only the floor and ceiling.

Then he realized, where's Cynthia? He looked around the hall, ran up and down, searching all the nearby rooms-which were mostly just closets filled with old furniture and paintings-and even went so far as to walk out into what seemed to be the ball room. _I guess the portal dropped us off in separate points in the castle. _He wandered aimlessly through the room, looking at the newly furnished wood tables and chairs, before he remembered. _This house is full of traps, each more painful than the last. _He placed the duffel bag on a table and opened it up. He had a flashlight, _oh goody, exactly what I need in a castle with perpetual light_.

He searched through the bag to find a crowbar, first aid kit, rope, some kind of grappling hook, and a GPS among some other things. He quickly whipped out the GPS and looked at it. He dropped it in disbelief, as if he had just been bitten by a rabid Pokémon. It couldn't pick its location. It wasn't capable of discovering even a general location or bring up a map. He was stranded in an unmarked place, possibly not even on earth, with god knows whatever is creeping around the castle.

He crept through the rest of the ballroom to see a pair of double doors. The room had several beautiful paintings along the wall with other accessories, like family crests, shields, and swords. Some were wrapped in plastic along the walls, others were out hanging on the wall. A large crystal chandelier was hanging above it all. _I'd bet anything that chandelier with plummet and try to crush me._ He pulled out a crowbar at the door just in case and tried to open it with the handle. The doors swung freely open as a log that was braced against the door with rope swung through, sending him flying into the middle of the dance floor, which began to crack like thin ice when he crash landed on the floor. By the time he was up and snapped back, the entire floor was cracked up like an egg. Then the floor started falling in from the center.

_Sweet mother of god, I'm going to die! _He sprinted to outrun the collapsing floor. Using his lightest footsteps, he tiptoed the rest of the way, as his heavy footfalls were only accelerating the collapse. He ducked and slid under the log, which was resting in the middle of the entrance. He stood back up and turned around to see a one-story drop into what appeared to be an underground tunnel system. The bricks didn't cast the same amount of light. Still frantic of the whole ordeal, he turned ran without thought down a long corridor, which exited into what appeared to be a study.

Bookcases were stacked along the walls, all filled with books of different colors and widths. A few books were weathered and torn with age. The windows that were in the room were either blacked out, or they didn't lead anywhere. Red curtains with gold lacing were draped at all of them. _Like May's color scheme. _Ash realized to himself. A desk with papers and a black leather swivel chair sat in front of the bookcases at the back of the room. A piano even sat in the corner closest and to the right. He sat at the desk, thinking of what to do next. So far, the inside was much bigger than the castle could hold.

He read some of the papers, most of them crazed blather. Probably wrote by the people lost in the place before him. One stood out, cause on the back was a crudely scribbled map of one of floors an X, standing for the exit with a caption, _Itguardsitalwaysevendayandnight. _Whatever it was, he didn't want to meet it. Then again, it guarded the only exit to the castle. If anything, that might be the main lobby. He turned it back over and began to read what it said. _Itcannotfinduswhenwedonotbreath. Ifwehidefromit,itmightleave. Startingtoloosemymindthough. _"You're telling me." _IfIdonotleavesoon,mightdie. _He soon lost interest, as he couldn't understand what it said afterwards.

He picked the paper up for reference when the chair jerked back against the bookcases. Spikes shot out of the shelves and sent books flying across the room. They then swung in rapidly on him. He barely managed to escape the death trap by jumping out of the chair. When he touched the door handle, the piano began to play a slow, yet happy tune. The notes soon went out of tune and sounded like a twisted ragtime song as it sped up.

He quickly pulled the door open and the music stalled, then played _backwards. _It seemed to speak words like _you couldn't pass, give it all up, you will fail, and you are and always will be just another nobody. _The second he took a step out, the music stopped completely. He looked around in the light to see he wasn't in the same hallway as before. He walked down the new corridor and soon saw it cut short at another door. There were no other doors in the hallway, including the one he first entered. _What's happening here?_

He opened the door to see Cynthia lying against the wall, holding her kneecaps. Red puddles were forming from them as her tears added to the mixture. Ash didn't see her duffel bag anywhere near her. He walked up to her and zipped open his bag. He pulled out the med kit and opened it to see basic medical devices. Bandages, Peroxide, a liquid designed to help form clots to stop bleeding, and extendable crutches were included in the pack. The crutches were in the duffel bag not the kit.

As he began to work on Cynthia, she looked up from her bloodied knees and at him, soulfully. Then she winced as the peroxide was applied. "How did this happen?" Ash asked while applying the blood thickening solution.

"When I entered, I had accidentally dropped my duffel bag. It has to be somewhere else in the castle. I was in the basement, wandering, trying to find out where you were. The basement is surprisingly dark, as if the light is weaker in the basement than the walls. I didn't see a trip wire that activated a system of needles to shoot from the floor and drop from ceiling. They came and stabbed into small, non vital areas, they just hurt a lot and caused minor movement limitations."

"That doesn't explain this." Ash interrupted.

"Well I soon found a door in the dark and opened it, which opened to a stairway. I stiffly stumbled up the steps and grabbed the handle. The door was a fake and instead of moving a latch to open the door, the clicking of gears shifted and spikes shot in from each wall, stabbing straight through my knees. I screamed in pain and tumbled down the steps. I thought you would hear that. The door opened for me as I rolled through it. When I crashed against the wall, I realized I was in this room instead of the hallway. That door you came through was locked when I crawled to it and tried the handle."

When she finished speaking, Ash handed her the crutches and she tried to stand. She managed to get back up, biting her lip the whole way. "Thanks," she said as she crutched across the room to the door. When Ash opened it, it led to a hallway, just as she had described. He pulled out the piece of paper with the map and checked his position. According to the crudely drawn map, they had to go down the hallway, turn left into a large chamber of sorts, exit at the top left, turn right to a corner, turn left at the end and they would be in the next large chamber that held the exit.

"We have a long way to go if you want to wait here." Ash suggested to her.

"No, we made it this far together, we are going to finish this." Cynthia said as they made their way down the hallway. It was so dark; neither could see the pitfall in the middle of the hallway. Cynthia managed to place her crutches on the other side and pass over it, but Ash stepped right into it and smacked his jaw as he plummeted into the pit.

Ash would have yelled out, but his jaw was in too much pain to even try and move. Fortunately, the duffel bag took the brunt of the attack from small, poison tipped spikes sitting in the bottom. He looked up at the top, which appeared to be more like looking through the wrong end of binoculars. He looked back at himself and saw a blue duffel bag. _Like the one Cynthia lost, or it's mine. _His was on his back, stuck with needles. He could almost feel the chemical mixture stirring in his body, choking it out fairly slowly.

As his vision started to fade in and out, he was careful to put his hands down between spikes and try stand. As his light-headed, weakened form managed to wobble around and still, he reached out for the duffel bag slowly and carefully. He zipped it open and stirred through its contents. He managed to find rope. He had some, but he halfway feared removing it from his back. What of, he didn't know. He struggled to open his mouth long enough to call for Cynthia, who stopped clicking down the hall and turned around.

"Ash? Where are you?" Cynthia asked into the darkness. His jaw had basically swollen up now, and he continued to grow closer to passing out. He picked up a small rock in the dark hole and throw it towards the top. He heard it click against the side of the hole and tumbled back down. She returned and peered down the hole. "Are you alright?" She asked.

Ash pointed at his mouth, signed his hands coming closer together, to show it was swollen, and then threw the rope up at her. She leaned over and reached in to catch the rope. She grabbed and lowered it down to him. He grabbed onto the second duffel bag and wrapped his free hand around the rope. She started to pull him up as his vision was focusing in and out. His gut area began to hurt, like his kidneys and liver. They were in convulsive pain. He returned to the light of the tunnel, everything was just a blob of light. Ash tried to stand, but instead crumpled to the floor. He managed to push out, "I…poisoned…badly," before everything faded to black.

When his eyes fluttered upon in a fury of longing, he was in the hallway with Cynthia still working on him. A miracle of an antidote was in her backpack. It had countered the poison in his body and left him feeling better than ever. He stood up in the dark hallway and helped up Cynthia. He lugged both duffel bags as they continued down the hallway into a grand chamber. In it was all sorts of torture equipment. Shackles were hanging from walls, and a medieval stretching table sat in the corner to the left. A wheel with knives stuck in it was still spinning next to them. A bed of spikes was hanging over another set of shackles. A stone table with restraints and an axe swinging over it sat in the upper right corner. A whip was lying next to another set of shackles.

A great darkness developed in near the whip and seemed to pull the light from the odd bricks. As the darkness lightened until it faded away, the figure of the Reaper appeared next to the whip. May was wearing a torn white dress with stains of blood on it and was shackled to the wall.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"You monster!" Ash screamed at the Reaper. He noticed the Reaper now had a black top hat. A shadow was cast over the upper half of his face, but his beady, red eyes bored through it and into Ash's heart. He also had a long sleeve, grey shirt with a black vest on and white, fancy gloves. The vest was so black it almost seemed to absorb the surrounding light. He wore black slacks with a white belt that exposed black dress shoes.

"I'm not a monster, and I have a name you know. It's Ashford." He said as he looked at Cynthia. "Now, I think its time we played a little game." Ashford exclaimed excitedly as he clutched his fingers around the handle of the whip that would hurt their beloved. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as her wrists were wearing raw from the rusty shackles.

"I thought you loved her. How could you do this to her?" Ash said as he started to run to him, but Cynthia grabbed his shoulder. _Don't do it. _The motion spoke to him. He stepped back instead and looked at the site.

"I'm not doing this to her, I'm doing it _for _her. Better speaking for you." Ashford said as he pulled lifted the whip and cracked it once in the air. All it would take is his hand to begin bearing down and Ash would be the one crushed. "Let's play a game, shall we? I'll ask you questions, and for every one you get right, the looser the restraints get on May. Get three in a row and she escapes this peril. Get one wrong, and she will be punished for your failure, like any girl you've met. Ha!"

"It's not like we have a choice," Cynthia whispered into Ash's ear. He knew that himself. Just by looking at the entire picture, he had no real other choice.

Before he could turn and accept the challenge, Ashford said, "Hey! This has nothing to do with you Cynthia. Oh how about a sick twist?" As Ash turned to face Ashford, Cynthia was enveloped in darkness and was revealed on the spinning wheel. Ashford walked over and stopped the wheel so he could tear out the axes. After he did, we walked back to the whip and said, "For every question you get wrong, May is whipped once, then twice, and so forth. For every question you get right, I throw an axe at the wheel. This will continue until I run out of axes, or one is dead."

A Hitmonchan spawned out of darkness and used his fists of power get the wheel spinning before walking over to the stretching table and started to practice punches. Ashford looked down at Ash asked cleared his throat. "Now, to make things even better, for every question that passes by, you get stretched out more until you're torn limb from limb, or you pass." The Hitmonchan lifted Ash off the ground and laid him down on the table. The ropes moved as if possessed and grabbed around his wrists and ankles. Ash flailed about and tried to break free, but the ropes tightened themselves. Ash looked back up at him and said, "Fine, I accept the terms."

"Heh, this will be fun." Ashford started, "First question! What is the name of the boy I took the soul of the day before yesterday? Hint: he was the one in Brendan's room just before him."

Ash had no idea what the kid's name was. He knew his age, and gender, but not his name. He gave the best guess he could, "Billy?"

"Nope, his name was Jimmy." Ashford said as he pulled back the whip. He moved slowly until his arm was extended far behind his body. He quickly snapped his arm forward along with his wrist and cracked the whip against May's back. The dress almost instantly split wide and showed a red gash as she wailed in pain. She twitched and heaved as blood oozed down her dress and legs. A pool of tears was forming on the ground around her feet.

The Hitmonchan grabbed the handle, pulled some switch Ash couldn't see to unlock the mechanism and turned it back one notch in the mechanism. This wasn't more than two inches, but he was already feeling some pain, as he wasn't flexible and he had experienced plenty of pain already. "Next question. How old was Brendan?" Ashford stated as gripped the whip tighter, ready for another strike.

"Brendan was 10, I'm pretty sure." Ash said as confidently as possible. That wasn't even very confident as he soul was in deep pain. He knew he was right on this question though.

"Correct." Ashford said as he picked up an axe and chucked it across the room without looking. Ash closed his eyes and waited for the _thwack_ of metal on wood, but instead heard nothing but a terrible scream from the wheel. It had gone high while she was upside down and struck her left thigh. She thrived in pain and bit her lip as the blood spewed from her wound. The Hitmonchan pulled the switch again and cranked two notches, putting him at a half foot stretched. His arms and legs were beginning to hurt, severely. His vision was starting to blur slightly. "Third question, when Gary showed you his badges after clearing the first league, how many did he have?"

Almost instantly, 8 came to mind because that was how many you needed and how many gyms there were. But then he remembered, somehow that jerk had managed to get 10 badges. Were did those other two even come from? "10" He answered swiftly before his bitterness could take over.

"Correct again. You're this close to saving her from more pain." Ashford said while bringing his fingers an inch or so apart. He threw another axe across the room, which fortunately flew across the room and missed by maybe an inch from severing her right arm off. The wheel had stopped with her upside down. Tears of sorrow were spreading through her hair and soaking the ground. As the Hitmonchan was about to crank Ash up another 2 notches, Ashford pointed at it and then the wheel. The Pokémon walked over and spun the wheel again, this time with much more force. He then cranked Ash up four more inches. He was thriving in pain, but had to see it through.

"Question four, what is the only legendary Pokémon you have failed to meet in the world?" Ashford said with a smirk. The likeliness of him remembering this Pokémon because it had been the Johto region, a place he hadn't been in for a long time.

Ash thought for a few moments, recollecting all of the legendary ones he had met and watched die and those he had seen corrupted or used for evil. "The legendary Pokémon I haven't met," Ash started. "Would have to be Raikou."

"Ah crap, you're right." Ashford said as he chucked the axe, which struck Cynthia in her left calf before the restraints broke and she dropped to the ground while the axes faded. The whip turned into a large boa constrictor and slithered away into a hole in the floor. Darkness consumed May and she reappeared under the spiked weight with the restraints on her. The Hitmonchan extended Ash two more notches, which left him in severe pain.

"I thought you said this was over." Ash said as he watched her struggle under the massive weight.

"Ah my friend, that was part one. This is the final question of the game. Grand prize is you get to see your beauty be released. Fail, and she will be crushed while you are pulled apart." Ashford exclaimed as he reached for the lever to the massive structure. All it would take was Ashford to pull back the safety and push the lever forward. "What was the name of the little girl in the Psychic type gym in the Kanto region that trapped your group in a child's city diorama?"

"Oh I kind of remember that." Ash said. "She was why I went to Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town to get a Haunter." Truth be told, he couldn't forget that horrific day. Misty and Brock had left him behind and waited outside while Ash traversed with Pikachu. They had been terrified by floating plates, the basic stuff while the Ghost Pokémon laughed it up. After meeting them and getting to know them, he tried to leave the place when an old chandelier busted and crushed both him and Pikachu. They became ghosts and managed to coax Brock and Misty in to save their lives.

What was the little girl's name though. He was stuck between two different things that he was pretty sure was wrong. He had to stop with the hesitation because his arms and legs felt very tight and Ashford was getting antsy for an answer of some sort. "30 seconds." Ashford chimed into his thoughts as he pulled back the safety on the lever.

"Wasn't her name Sabrina or something like that?" Ash accidentally thought out loud. He would have clasped his hands over his mouth the second he said it if he could move his arms. But Ashford appeared dumbfounded. He was completely lost in his thoughts as a flash of worry began to twist onto his face.

"No, no, no, no, no. Nooo! You're right." he called out as the chains loosened and May stepped back slightly. Ashford pulled down on the lever anyway, but May was well out of the way when it hit the ground. She was running straight for the door. The Hitmonchan cranked Ash down as quickly as possible before fading into the shadows along with the restraints. Ash tried to stand, but nearly fainted when he saw what happened next.

The axe swinging back and forth over the table near the door May was running for broke out of place from a stripped gear or something and plummeted in May's direction. As she under the great axe, she tripped on a brick that was sticking up. As she started the stand back up, the axe split her in two, directly across the small of her back. The axe then tumbled back over, crushing the table.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ignoring the pain surging through his limbs as best as he could, Ash quickly sprinted up the steps and dove for the remains. He stopped just shy of her as he saw her eyes flutter closed. The blood pooled around his shoes as he got down on his knees, soaking his pants as well. "Oh no. No. Why would this happen to such a flower?" he whispered to himself. Ashford didn't make a move, he just stood there, his eyes twitching in frustration. Cynthia was standing kneeling the two, her hands over her mouth with her eyes enlarged greatly.

Ash bent over May's body and began to cry. As he began to pick up the upper half and hold it in his arms, he heard her shallow breathing in his ear. It was cold, like that of an iceberg torn apart by the Pokémon of the sea, cold and moist, yet with a slight humidity. He held her head close as his eyes grew thick with tears. He brought his lips came close to hers before he came to his senses. _I was about to kiss a corpse. _Then, her breath finally stopped as well. He wiped the tears from his eyes and glared at his twin. He stood unmoving, the only sign of life was his beady, red eyes that glared into his mind. When Ash blinked, he still say the eyes, punching through his eyelids and into his brain.

He managed to put her down, stand up in a pure anger state without really showing it, and run at Ashford, who sidestepped and pulled the lever. The weight came tumbling down as he stepped under it. In a split second, he tucked and rolled out from under, and popped back up to tackle the demon. With arms extended, he grabbed onto the demon as they both came off the ground. They sprawled down on the floor before Ashford punched him in the jaw. As Ash stumbled back, he threw a punch in Ashford's stomach, but he barely even flinched. With that, Ashford grabbed Ash's head and slammed it into his own. Ash immediately fell on his ass as Ashford stood over him, scythe drawn out from the darkness.

Ash closed his eyes in anticipation for the end, but instead he heard and felt nothing. He opened his eyes to see Ashford was gone, a small cloud of dust where he once stood over his twin. He looked over at the remains of May, but they were gone as well. The only thing left in the room was the torture equipment and the two of them. He walked over to Cynthia, who reached up her hand. Ash grabbed it firmly and lifted her up onto his shoulder.

They walked past the fallen axe and rubble covered scratched up floor and through the door. _Ashford was right. He was making these more and more painful, affecting more of me as well. But he's gone too far. He has hurt the other half of me, and he must be punished. _The pain filled Cynthia groaned in agony as her limp legs were dragged along the ground. Ash only looked back in the room long enough to see the Arbok return from the hole with a bug Pokémon in its maw.

The heavy metal door slammed shut with a loud clunk behind him as they continued down the hallway. Now, the bricks gave off barely any light. At the end of the hallway however, a bright light shone out from the left. Nearly black heavy As the two approached them, more heavy black metal doors appeared in the low light. The cell inside wasn't lit up whatsoever. Cynthia reached into one of the duffel bags and pulled out a flashlight. Ash grabbed it in his hands and clicked on the light. The bright LED light shone into the cell, illuminating it quite well. A skeleton hung from wrist shackles in the middle of the room. The figure dangled its skeletal feet in ankle high water. The cell appeared to have you step down into the center where the water was.

Ash did the same in several of the cells. Most were basically the same. Most hung from their wrists, but some hung from their ankles and a couple from their throats. All of the cages were built the same, step down into the center and water up about ankle height. Some had arrows in them, burnt out torches were on a few walls. Swords and other weapons hung on the wall of a few. When they got about halfway down the hall, they peered into one last chamber. In it was a flesh covered body.

To be more specific, it was Brendan. He was dangling from his wrists with cuts and marks covering his body. His exposed chest was covered in burn marks, most likely from the torch. His eyes were turned up, exposing all the white of his eyes. A low flame torch was barely out of the water. A plain blade was leaned up in a corner. Suddenly, the torch went out in the room and the flashlight flickered a couple times before joining it.

Stranded in darkness, all they could hear was the breaking of chains, the loud splashes of water, the clickety clack of bones, the sound of metal on stone, the crackling of torches, and the grinding squeak of the doors. The skeletons had come alive. Ash sloshed through the water picked up the sword from the corner. As he lifted into the dim light from the hallway, the carcass of Brendan shook in his chains Ash placed Cynthia on the heightened area of the chamber and looked at the shaking body. Cynthia grabbed and started rubbing her legs to try get more feeling in them.

Loud footsteps could be heard in the hallway as Brendan managed to break down from his bonds as well. Brendan began to whip his chains around on his wrists as his eyes continued to be turned up. He twisted around and whipped his chains at Ash, who managed to stop them with the sword. "I don't want to do this." Ash stammered out as the corpse tripped closer to him. "This isn't you. Come on! Snap out of it." Brendan only stepped closer whipped Ash with his chains. Ash stumbled back then tightened his grasp. "This is for May!" He screamed as turned the blade and slammed the hilt into Brendan's chest. The creature doubled over and Ash lifted his foot into the creature's face. He held his face as he stumbled back. Before he could stand up straight again, Ash kicked him in the stomach, sending him back into the wall, unconscious.

The door then opened as the first of the skeletons stepped through. One swung down at Ash as he sidestepped left and kicked the spine out of it. It then collapse in a clatter of bones. A clash of metal was heard as another skeleton met blades with Ash. A second came tried to stab Ash in the gut, but he stepped back and brought his blade back on his right shoulder and across, slashing open the first skeleton's rib cage. The next one stepped through the clattering bones twirling his blade in his hands two times before stopping it abruptly with the blade facing Ash's face. It brought the blade up to its left shoulder and slashed as Ash hastily swung to his right, clashing blades again. He kneed the skeleton in the stomach area and shook up its bones. He then removed the skull from its body causing it to collapsed. After the sound of few more clacking bones, everything stopped.

Even though he didn't hear anything, he still knew they were outside. He couldn't just stay in the room forever though, he thought to himself. He looked back at Cynthia, who nodded in approval. Ash grasped the metal handle and pulled in open. He stepped back into the hall way to see flames shooting out in his direction. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled out from under the flames. He stood to see a skeleton with a torch in his hands. In the dim light, his skeleton was covered in burn marks from his torture.

It spit out a kerosene like substance into the torch, which caused more flames to rocket in his direction. He backed up into another skeleton and turned around. He kicked the skeleton's knee cap backwards and used the hilt to smash in his skull. He watched as the kerosene fluid splashed out from the wound. Their skulls were filled to the brim with the stuff. He brought his head down and rammed it into a skeleton's rib cage. As it collapsed, he grabbed the skull and a torch, placing the sword on the ground. He had it spit into the torch, sending a fireball surging into the cluster of bones, causing them to scatter. The last torch bearing skeleton came to the ones with chains and lit the chains ablaze. The skeletons then whipped it over their heads, forcing Ash to retreat. He turned around and saw there were none behind him. He couldn't even get close to them.

That's when he remembered he still had his Pokéballs, plus Pikachu, who reluctantly returned during the flight. He pulled out Pikachu's and threw it out into the air. "Pikachu!" It called out as it did a front flip and face planted into the ground. "Pika…" It said as it stood back up in the dim light. Then it realized what it was seeing was real and let out a frightened yelp. It was seeing the skeletons, the eyes in the bricks, and the flaming chains flying through the air. A loud _whoosh _was heard as one swept right over its ears.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash screamed as a chain came close the both of them. Pikachu's tail glowed bright white as he jumped up and slashed in at the chain. The weak, rusty links snapped with ease. The surprised skeleton in the middle stopped and let the chains drop. It looked at them for a few seconds before the now uncontrolled blaze raced up the chains and onto his bones. He instantly came back to life and jumped in fright as the flames crawled up his arms. He ran into a random cell and splashed around in the water, but didn't return.

The two left started stepping closer as the one with torch seemed to disappear. Ash became preoccupied with the battle. He ordered Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, which it used joyously to destroy the skeletons. The lightning skipped across the ground and jumped up at the skeleton on the left. He seemed to absorb the blow at first, but the over energized bones burst into toothpicks within a matter of seconds. The last one was struck with several pieces of his friend. Ash ran at it, ducked under a chain, picked up a blade from the ground, and stabbed the sword deep into the skeleton's skull. It let out a piercing scream that started demonically low, and rose to piercing banshee levels, then dropped back to mid range as it put its hands on Ash. The hands quickly fell into pieces.

He was so preoccupied he didn't see that the torch bearing skeleton had stepped into the cell Cynthia was in and grab her up. He was so soaked into the battle, he didn't see skeleton go around the corner into the final chamber or hear her calls of his name.

He did hear the breaking of a single chain in the cell across from Brendan's. He did hear the loud splash and thundering footsteps. He also saw the door kicked so hard, the rusty hinges snapped and let out a shriek as the door skittered across the floor. He also saw the heavily armored skeleton step from the chamber. He witnessed it thump across the floor and turn to him. It was wearing black armor with red trimmed samurai armor. It's helmet was adorned with large, blood red horns. It had a neck protector who's plates were black with red trim. From the only part of it that could be seen, the skeleton was yellowed with age. It had a obsidian black blade with a dark red holder on its right side. The one chain was around its right arm. There also seemed to be a little piece of metal that stuck up in front of its mouth. A small blue flame burned brightly on its tip. In a low, raspy voice it choked out, "I am _it. _There is no one above me. I am the greatest that once lived. I am _it _baby."


	7. The End

Chapter 7

It took a step back and leaned forward. His left hand whipped the blade from its sheath and held it straight up and down in front of him. Ash managed to find a blade hidden in the rubble of skeletons. It was a serrated blade with a gold hilt with white trimming. They swung their blades simultaneously, but instead of the proper clash of metal on metal, only a single loud _snap _was heard. Ash's blade had been broken with the largest part of the blade had fallen onto the ground, leaving him with a little more than hilt. Mouth agape, he stepped back before throwing the remaining piece of the blade at the skeleton, but it tinged off its armor.

It bellowed out a deep laugh before it put its blade by its side, turned it parallel to the ground, and charged Ash. In fear, he fell backwards over Pikachu, who was cowering behind his leg. Now exposed, in frantic fury, Pikachu used Iron Tail and crossed "blades" with it. "Impressive strength, little yellow one." It said as it was pushed back a few feet. Pikachu pulled a backflip and landed on its feet. Pikachu then went in autopilot almost as Ash scampered over to Brendan's cell. He opened the door to find Cynthia was missing. He almost didn't care as he was looking for Brendan. He grabbed his wrists and forced them with enough strength to crush them. The shackles then came off with ease. They were tight on Brendan, but fairly loose on Ash's wrist. He then dragged the chains back into the hall to see Pikachu and it doing battle.

He began slowly, whipping the chains around in circles over his head. It heard the clinking of the links colliding and turned around. He lit his chain ablaze and spun it around rather quickly. Their chains clashed in the air, tangling. Before Ash could react, it tugged hard on the chains, bringing him uncomfortably close to it as it stuck its leg out, planting it firmly in his guttural area. Now on the ground, groaning, Ash watched it pull the chains apart. It's had a hook around it, as did both of Ash's. It sheathed its sword and lifted Ash high into the air by his head with one hand. Ash began to flail under it's paw as it wrapped the chain up and bared the hook. It pointed the hook so that it would scoop out Ash's eyes. The hook came close to his eye before Pikachu leapt into the air and landed on its helmet, pulling it over it's eyes. "Get off of me, you little yellow rat or I will tear your tail from your body!" It screamed as it reached for Pikachu, who used Iron Tail on his helmet. The helmet reacted like a ringing bell. Pikachu jumped off the helmet as it dropped Ash and tried to stop the helmet.

When It pulled its helmet off, It threw it on the ground and turned for Pikachu. It only took two steps before, Ash lashed out one of his hooks, which flipped around its head and locked into his mandible. It roared, opening, and loosening the muscle between his jaw and skull. Ash gave it a swift, powerful jerk and he saw the mandible come flying back. All of the kerosene the skeleton held spilled onto its armor. Pikachu used its tail to cast sparks at the armor, which began to heat up rather quickly. At first, it continued its attacks, feeling nothing without a complete nervous system. Soon however, it roared in terror and tried to strip its armor, but it burned him to the touch. He ran into a random cell, followed by a loud splash. When he came back, his armor was badly scorched, but otherwise unharmed.

Pikachu cast a Thunderbolt, which struck its armor, the shock had been magnified by the water. He stumbled back and turned around to meet Ash, who had his chains wrapped up to bare the hooks. He hooked each one into an empty eye socket. It tried to pull them off, but they were hooked deep. Ash quickly ran back and unraveled his chains to full extension. "Please no!" It said.

"Sorry. Nothing personal. This is just business" Ash said as he tugged back with all of his strength, tearing out the front of its skull. Unlike the others though, it didn't collapse into bones, but instead it dissipated into dust. The heavy armor clattered to the floor. Ash had decided to lift the armor off the ground. It wasn't as heavy as he had expected. He fit into the surprisingly flexible armor with ease. He decided not to use the helmet however and decided to continue on through the hall. He saw the brilliant light glowing from around the corner. He came up to the corner that would lead him back to sanity and turned towards it.

The light hadn't been coming through the slits of a door but of a wall of bright bricks. These were much brighter than the rest of the basement. He had to shield his eyes to keep from hurting them. The door however, was the complete opposite. It was black with gold handles. The black seemed to almost absorb the light in the room. He looked around to see if their was anything left. Pikachu came up from behind and leapt up onto his shoulder.

When he pulled down on the handle, it creaked loudly as if it had nearly rotted away. It opened up and led onto a flat plain. The rock was all brown and craggy. It appeared to be a large slab of land pulled from the ground. A white aura surrounded the rock area like a sky. Shadows constantly shifted off the rock face and the sky. They appeared to be like distorted memories warping through the air. When he regained his thoughts, he saw May, resting on a rock that stood high on the slab he stood on. He was completely amazed that she was still alive. He also saw Cynthia hung from her ankles with her dazzling blonde hair flowing with the air currents caused by shifting aura.

He began to run for the cliff to retrieve May. He came to the pillar and began to climb. He continued on and climbed on until he nearly reached the top. He stuck out his hand to stroke May's soft, brunette hair when something grabbed his wrist with his hand. It was a pale white hand that entered a leather jacket and snaked over is head and onto the shoulder of Ashford, who wrapped his other hand around Ash's throat. He began to choke and flail. The extra weight of Ashford caused him to start leaning back. He just couldn't reach her. His other hand quickly lost grip with the change of weight distribution. He plummeted with Ashford as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and landed on the rock. Ashford turned himself on top of Ash and lifted off from him. Ash crashed into the ground as Ashford gently landed on the top of the rock.

Ash slowly rose to his feet and screamed up at him, "You monster, you faked me with illusions?"

"Yes I did. It's good to see your starting to figure things out." Ashford retorted. "I have gotten to witness your Pokémon's power. Now how about you see mine." He said as a Pokéball spawned out of darkness. He tapped the button on the front and out came some sort of Cyclops like creature. "Say hello to Dusclops. Now say goodbye. Use will-o-wisp."

The new Pokémon spawned blue fire in its hands and threw them at Pikachu. It jumped from its perch and used Volt Tackle, firmly planting its head in Dusclops eye. It flew back and slammed into the ground. "Oh did I tell you of the power of Dusclops?" Ashford asked. "Well you see, his body is hollow and reacts like a black hole when opened." With that, a crack developed in its head. Pikachu was still way too close though. The crack widened and began pull in dust around it. The vacuum quickly grew stronger and began to pull Pikachu close to Dusclops. Then Pikachu's tail got caught in it. The crack wasn't large enough to pull in its entire body. Then Pikachu used Thunderbolt, which cracked open the wrath of the heavens, raining terror onto the Dusclops, who instantly dropped unconscious. The vacuum then wore off shortly their after.

Pikachu pulled its tail from the Dusclops as Ash charged the pillar. He drew the obsidian blade from its sheath and wielded it high above his head. Ashford drew his scythe from the rock pillar and leapt down. Ash swung up as Ashford bared down. Their blades met as Ashford was still in the air. He drew back and flew over Ash, land behind him with his back to him. "Are you sure you want to fight me? I will let you leave in defeat or you can meet your maker in the Underworld."

"How about I send you back to yours?" Ash yelled as he turned around and they clashed blades again. Ashford drew back and put a gash in Ash's armor. Ash swung his blade wildly down made a wound from his left shoulder to right thigh. He stepped back and then charged forward and the continue to crash blades.

Meanwhile, Cynthia spoke lightly to May. "Come on now. Just untie my ankles and we can help him. Just please, all this blood rushing to my head is intoxicating." May slowly lifted a hand to her face and cleared her hair from her eyes. Slowly, she reached for the rope and tugged on it. The rope then quickly came undone on its own. She tumbled down and grabbed onto a rock to stop herself. She managed to land safely enough and hold herself there. May stayed on the pedestal as Cynthia came up to join her. She then sat next to May and watched the battle continue. She could see little cracks growing into the rock every time their blades met.

When Ashford swung, Ash turned into black mist and faded away. "What the?" He said. The mist then recollected behind him and Ash kicked him in the rear. "Wha? How is that possible?"

"The power of the armor courses through my veins. I am one with the suit and it with me. I can move swiftly and disappear in the blink of an eye." Ash spoke this in confidence and charged. Their blades clashed again, widening the cracks. Ash would constantly disappear and reappear, tearing the rock further apart with every collision. Nothing could compare to the battle growing between the two. Slam! Their blades met, casting dust into the wind and sending both back a few steps.

Ashford shoved his scythe forward at Ash's gut, but he disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the blade. Before Ashford could bring the blade all the way back, Ash touched the tip the of blade on the ground, then swiped up and to the left, severing Ashford's right arm. When this happened, the shadows along the ball of aura all cleared the room. They all feared what happened next. The sky ripped apart along a hidden seam.

A black field opened, sucking up the dust from the structure. Then Ashford stopped the battle. "Wait. There is something I want to show you." Ashford started. "Since I am a demon, my arm grows back." Then a new, bare arm grew out from this stub of a shoulder.

"You are more annoying than a starfish Pokémon" Ash said and they crossed blades again, further opening the tear. While their blades were still intertwined, another scythe came swinging at him. He ducked under and stood back up to see another Ashford. Ash spun the blade over his head for a few seconds, then slashed across the neck of the clone. Its head went flying, twirling and sending black smoke into the air. The corpse dropped to its knees and then landed on its chest before fading away.

Following the sickening _thwack _the entire structure broke apart, smaller rocks instantly were pulled into the rift. Pikachu started to lift off as well, but May grabbed it by the tail, pulled it back, and held it between the two girls. Ash was so stunned, he didn't notice Ashford convulsing and bending forward. He vomited black smoke that caressed his books before solidifying into a goo like substance, holding him in place. He twisted back and forth trying to break it, but it wouldn't budge. When he looked back up, Ashford was still bent over. He then suddenly bent backward to a nearly 90o angle as blood splurted from his back where two large, feathery, black wings sprouted out. He lifted up and charged Ash, knocking the boots right off his feet. Ashford slammed him through one boulder, then pushed off of him, sending Ash through a second and landing on a third.

Ashford charged through and nearly pinned Ash to the boulder. He managed to work out and skip along the boulders. Ashford leapt and bared down on the rock Ash was about to step on. He hit it too early and

Ash jumped over him. Ashford grabbed his leg, bringing him onto the boulder. Ashford brought up his scythe to remove Ash's head, exposing a wing. He swooped his blade up, severing Ashford's right wing. He leapt back onto a smaller rock as the tear widened further, pulling more rocks into the hole. Ash saw his boots come clean from the goo and disappear in the hole. "You son of a bitch, do you know how hard it is to fly with one wing?" Ashford screamed as he managed to redirect himself.

"Your about to learn to fly without any!" Ash said as lifted the sword above his head. Ashford didn't have enough time to turn away. The raised weapon clipped off about 2/3 of his wing Sending him twirling onto the largest rock left. Ash leapt across the boulders and landed on the boulder. The one was just on was pulled into the tear. As Ashford's bloodied form managed stand, Ash lifted a shoe and shoved it into Ashford's stomach. As he flew off the pedestal, he was plucked from air, pulled into the blackness. His screams of anguish could be heard as he disappeared into the mass.

The black tear then evolved into a full fledged black hole, pulling everything into it. A door appeared on the event horizon as Cynthia and May came down to Ash's level. "How am I supposed to get to that?" Cynthia said, still having to crawl with her hands everywhere.

"Here, hold Pikachu." Ash said as he handed it to Cynthia. She grabbed hold and wrapped her arms around it. Ash wrapped his arms around her waist and threw her towards the door. She hit the door headfirst and disappeared through as it opened for her. Ash then grabbed May gently. He wrapped his arms around her stomach tightly. Then he power jumped using all of his might. He leapt straight through the door. As he passed through, instead of continuing forward, he landed on his back with May on top. His legs could feel clean cut grass on the other side of the jeans. He looked into the purple/blue sky. He could tell the sun was rising.

He let go of May and slowly stood up. Ash turned around and saw he had came from a one way door that led outside from somewhere else in the house. The door wasn't the same style as the one he had entered. He looked down into the chasm that once held Murkrow. The fog was cleared and Murkrow flock had disappeared. It was now instead filing with vines that stretched across the chasm and connected them together. The roots were pulling the chunks of land back together. The mainland was soon reconnected to the island that once stood alone. Suddenly, he heard the clinking of the bricks once again.

He looked back to see one shoot out from the main structure, followed by another, and another until the entire wall was collapsing. Each brick would glow bright white and fade out, to show a Duskull floating for the trees. They would all scatter in separate directions as to hide away, for their nightly hunt was over. It was in their nature to abandon their target at sunrise.

The pillars quickly fell in on themselves followed by a fountain of Ghost Pokémon fleeing the fog and rubble. Soon, only the foundation of the castle remained. Then it too exploded up and out as Duskull clusters splayed from the mass. "May?" Ash asked

"Yea Ash, is something wrong?" May retorted. She had her hands together, rubbing them in anxiousness.

"I never want to be away from you for that long ever again." Ash then grabbed her hands and held them between the both of them. "Life without you left me empty and yearning for you again. I could spend my life… lost in you, my love." Ash finished as he brought her hands together and close enough so that he could kiss them. She then threw his hands down, grabbed him and then pulled him close. He kissed him long and hard. They both close their eyes and grabbed the other's shoulders. Nothing could destroy the moment they now shared openly. As they slowly pulled apart, Ash whispered into her ear, "I hope you never leave my side."

"Trust me, I won't forget that, ever." May said as she stepped back. A loud boom was heard as the black hole opened in the deepest recess of the castle's foundation. Ashford rose out and looked at them without speaking.

He began to lower into a hole that led to the Underworld. It had spawned under him, a sign their father was angry with him. Before his head disappeared into the hole, he groaned out, "This was the house, built on sin. Originally, nobody lived, they would get what they gave. You broke this trend and barrier. I congratulate you."


End file.
